Burns
by snowwinter486
Summary: Kaku is instructed to take care of the newest member of the Whitebeard Pirates, Ace. Ace/Kaku


Title: Burns  
>Author: snowwinter486<br>Pairing: Ace/Kaku, hinted Marco/Kaku  
>Genre: romance, angst, crack, humor, fluff, ect.<br>Summary: Kaku, whose been working under Whitebeard is forced to take care of Ace, the newcomer.  
>Disclaimer: Don't own anything.<br>A/N: Some of the time-line is screwed up, because I don't understand the manga when they try to explain Ace's past.

I still don't know why I'm doing this either.

-WHEE! STARTING THE STORY!-

"Newcomer?" 23 year old Kaku walked onto the deck as he stared at the 19 year-old, black haired male trembling in a far corner of the deck.

"Huh?" Marco, his best friend, walked up next to him, "Oh, he's the guy that came aboard a couple of days ago."

"You mean that's the one that keeps trying to kill Captain?"

"Yeah, that's the brat," the blond said, yawning. "You alright?" he asked, "I heard about what happened at the other island."

A nod was his reply.

Marco blinked at the quiet male, who seemed intrigued by the newest hostage, "Give this to him," handing over a plate of warm rice on it, and the capped male took it.

Kaku looked at the male, no sign of emotion on his face before turning over and leaned over to the crouched male, "Here."

"What the fuck do you want?"

"I was told to give this to you," the male said easily, the soft voice that stroked Ace like a lullaby.

"By what?"

"Marco," the square-nosed male replied as he sat down in front of the male, and scooted closer, holing a spoonful of rice and held it up, "Eat."

"I can feed myself!" Ace snarled as he snatched the food away from the male.

"You don't seem like it," bland eyes blinked as the male growled further.

"Shut up!" he called, and chomped down the food like a train, "There!" he roared out of a mouthful, "All gone!"

A soft chuckle escaped Kaku's lips, "You proved me wrong," he said, and Ace smirked in triumph.

"Damn right I did, and I'll do it again, too!"

The capped male tugged on his hat and nodded at the smaller male, "I look forward to that."

Marco whistled loudly as he walked up to Ace, "Wow, that's a first," he said.

"What?" the ex-captain snapped at the First-mate.

"It takes me months to get Kaku to talk, and it got me a couple of years for him to show some form of emotion. More or less, smiling! And you got it down within a day," he said, a thoughtful look on his face, "Keep it up."

"Why the fuck should I?"

Eyes narrowed at the male before he sighed, shaking his head as he watched the slim male walk off, the morning sun shinning brightly down on the Whitebeard sign on the back of his black jacket.

The male stretched his arm as he walked away, "Isn't it okay for people to relax and laugh every once in a while?"

The black-haired male grumbled something vulgar under his breath as he huffed away, drawing his knees closer to him.

**-The following day...**

"Pops!"

Ace twitched.

"Pops!"

In fact, he twitched again.

"Pop-"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Ace screamed as he threw a barrel at the Captain, failing miserably as it shattered into splinters on the ground around him, "Goddamnit!" he called out in fustration as he scrambled to his feet, rushing at the larger male with all his strength.

Oh how much he wanted to kill the man!

With barely a look from the giant, the captain easily swatted him away like some pest, and the teen headed straight for the waters.

"Hey, isn't he a Devil Fruit-user?" one of the crew members called out.

A large, nervous look went around the crew before a pair of black shoes fell to the ground, a long-nosed male diving perfectly into the water.

"Kaku!" Marco yelled out as he rushed to the railings of the Moby Dick.

Whitebeard looked over, worried about his crewmates, "Isnt' he still injured from his last mission?" he asked.

"He said he was fine but-" Marco was roughly cut off as Vista stepped in, a dark look on his face.

"He doesn't know the boundaries of his body, rather... He ignores it," the male said as he fixed his mustache.

Breaking the surface of the water, Kaku lunged the male over the railings and onto the deck, coughing up water as he gasped for breath, he turned over to watch Ace.

"Stay... Alive," he whispered, before standing up strongly, "Or is your will that weak?"

The other male continued to cough up water as he glared up at the male.

"What..." he was irritated and confused and was just a bundle of emotions that he didn't dare separate.

"Is it?" the male shook his head as he picked up his shoes and continued to walk away.

"Kaku, get some sleep," Whitebeard said, "You don't look so good."

The long-nosed male swayed slightly before shaking his head, straightening up and nodded at his captain before walking off.

A couple of dirty glances and many more glares ended on Ace, but was quickly disappeared as Marco helped the male into his old corner, where everyone slowly forgot about him.

The following day, Kaku walked over to Ace, and leaned down on a single knee. No visible emotion was shown on the male's face, but the black-haired male didn't bother looking at the male.

"I'm glad you proved me wrong," he whispered as he gave the male some rice soup. Ace blinked as the male nodded at him before walking away, "Please excuse me."

Ace lazily picked up the bowl and slowly began eating the substance.

Marco walked by next to the male, "Oh, so you did eat something," he said simply as the younger male looked up at the Phoenix.

"What the fuck do you want?" he growled out lowly.

Marco chuckled, "You're not going to last long at this rate," he said.

The freckled male grumbled before standing up and walking away from the conversation.

"Why... do you guys call him 'Pop's?" he male asked at last.

Marco smirked.

/

"...You... joined," Kaku's soft whispered made Ace strain himself to listen over the large, drunken cheers from the crewman around them.

"Yeah," the male replied, rather lamely as well, "I'm going to dedicate my life to White-Pops," he quickly fixed himself before Kaku abruptly stood up. "Hey, I never learned your nam-"

"Kaku," the male butted in, a cold look in his eyes as he nodded at him, "Let's...get along well."

"Y-yeah," Ace nodded, it felt as though the long-nosed male was a lot more...

Colder.

A dazed look appeared upon Ace's face as he watched Marco rushed up next to Kaku, as the two conversed quietly. More like Marco was talking to the male, and Kaku nodded his head, and very so often, spoke.

Soft-looking, pink lips opening slowly to say one thing before claming back up, as though he was holding something back. The ways his dark, endless eyes slowly blinked as it showed complete and utter attention to the one it was talking to.

And not Ace.

A burning sensation appeared in the male's chest, as he gripped it hard. He must be hungry or something...

"Ace, what do you think?" Marco asked the fire-logia male, who just blinked.

"What?" the freckled male stared with a completely blank look on his face. Was he supposed to be paying attention?

"You wanna come to the second division?" the blond asked simply as he continued to stare at the new member.

Ace, who had a vague idea about the divisions, nodded once.

"Great!" Marco said energetically, "You take care of him then, Kaku!" he said brightly before walking away.

The capped male looked at the younger one and nodded his head in acknowledgement, "Welcome to the second division of the Whitebeard Pirates," he said simply. Staring deeply into Ace's eyes as he awaited a sign of acknowledgement.

"Are you the Division leader?" It was out of pure curiosity that he asked.

Eyes blinked once before Kaku shook his head, and motioned for the newer male to follow him as he guided him to the cabin for the Second Division Members.

"Sleep," he said, pointing to the sheets, bunk-beds, and pillows, rustling on the ground, he turned around and continued walking, not bothering to wait for the male to catch up.

Especially since he was certain that the man would be able to catch up at the slow speed he's going at.

**-SLOW SPEEDING! NO SPEEDING! OR DRUNK-DRIVING!-**

Ace was dead-tired by the time he hit the sheets.

Especially after the tattoo he got on the third day after officially joining the crew.

"...You sure about this?" Kaku asked as he spun the tattooing pen in his hand.

"Yeah. I can't go back on my word. And this is how I'll make sure of it," he said, and the capped male adjusted it before beginning.

The way the material pierced his skin, as the long-nosed male mercilessly carved the Whitebeard Sign onto the male.

Ace would never forget it.

The way that when everything was finished, Kaku applied a cold, damp towel to sooth the swelling helped too.

And then, when he looked at the male, the softest smile that smoothly played it's way on his lips, and absolutely stunned Ace speechless.

The male sighed contently at the thoughts and memories he had made with Kaku within the last couple of weeks.

He didn't regret a single thing about the days.

"Kaku?" the male mumbled out as the long-nosed man slowly looked up from his book.

The way his legs crossed above one another as the long-nosed male looked up through his long eyelashes, sitting forward in his wooden chain in the far corner of the room, and how the gently dimmed the lamp next to him on the desk shown his bright eyes.

"Aren't you... tired?" the male asked lamely.

Eyes blinked before the head shook, 'No'.

"...I am," he said, "Sleep with me?" he asked, almost desperately.

Eyes widened in surprised as Ace rolled over to face the male properly before propping himself on his elbows to look up at the male from his spot on the bed.

A soft sigh as Kaku reached over and turned the light off, setting the book down and taking his shoes off before sliding next to the male.

The moon finally illuminated the room from the window and Ace drank in the sight of Kaku.

"Your hat and jacket..." the sentence trailed off as his bed-partner blinked once before unzipping his black jacket to reveal an orange t-shirt, with the Whitebeard Pirates logo on it. Then ripped off his cap and hung it gently on the top bedpost where he was supposed to sleep.

The way his slim muscles shined, almost glowing as Ace gazed deeply at the long-nose that proudly showed it's way through. And then, the great mess of orange-hair that seemed to be perfectly set on top of his head.

"Better?" the voice whispered and Ace grinned.

"Oh yeah," he said, as he scooted closer to the wall, making enough room on the small bed for the two of them.

The male, taking the hint, slid next to the male,

"When I was younger, I used to sleep with my brothers like this," he said quietly, a soft, far-away looking reaching to his eyes, "I wonder how they're doing..."

Kaku blinked once before reaching an arm around the male and brought him closer before whispering softly into his ears, "You have someone waiting for you then," he said.

Ace blinked and nodded as Kaku softly continued, the warm breath tickling his ear as chills ran down his neck.

"No matter what happens, you have to get back to them," he said.

Blinking the young male nodded, allowing himself to pull Kaku closer to sleep on his arm that was so gratefully stretched out underneath him.

A deep slumber was a good one. As long as it may last.

-.../...-.-

"ACE!" the yell of his name sharply awoke the male from his slumber, "Get off him!" The freckled male looked so confused as Thatch continued to yell, "You're burning him!"

And so very harshly, threw him off the older male.

"What?" Ace looked down at Kaku, who was awake, his hat proudly on his head as burn marks, in shape of hand-prints decorating the male's neck, arms, and chest male.

"Kaku?"

The capped male looked up to Thatch, a questioning look on his face.

"Are you okay?" the male asked, completely alarmed.

A nod came as an answer as the male stood up, putting his shoes on, he grabbed his cap and turned to Ace, "Had a good dream?"

"Y-yeah," the male gulped as the scars attracted his attention like a magnet, "I'm sorry..."

An eyebrow rose as he let a loose laugh, surprising both males, "Don't worry," he said, a small smile on his face, "I'm fine."

Thatch, on the other hand, was not convinced, "Marco's gonna have my head..." he muttered darkly as he sighed, "Make sure you get to the doctor," he said, with all of the seriousness he conserves for moments like these.

The male nodded his head before slinging another black jacket and changing it, zipping all the way up, he walked off.

"Kaku..." Ace whispered softly as the male adjusted his cap once more before turning back to the younger male and beckoning him to follow.

"Will you come with me today as well?"

Ace obediently, almost blindly, followed the outstretched hand in front of him.

And meanwhile, Thatch looked very confused about all of this.

Well, as long as they are happy it's good, right?

"Just don't get burned bad..." He sighed out, "Dad's not going to be happy with this as well."


End file.
